Pandemics have shaken civilizations throughout history. Although these bouts of infections have had devastating effects on society, our survival has also allowed humanity to evolve and reshape its socio-economic and technological focuses. Medical research has most often managed to overcome the pandemics through significant progress. It might seem incredible but substantial medical achievements have been…
The Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the most quantified health crises in history. The wealth of available information is a powerful tool for the response, but this is deeply dependent on making sense of mountains of data, and quickly. Artificial intelligence (AI) is potentially invaluable for this: it can sift through and interpret vast…
Samuel Hughes, Year 12, Cardiff High School, Cardiff One of the most important scientific discoveries that still affects the world today was predicted by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, realised by German physicist Heinrich Hertz and pioneered by Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi. Since its discovery, it has made communication possible over vast distances, enabled billions…
Sleep is a phenomenon that ties us irrefutably to our relatives in the rest of the animal kingdom. The requirement to sleep is not only present in the most complex of organisms, such as Homo sapiens, but also in more primitive species, such as the jellyfish Cassiopoiea and the nematode C. Elegans. Even in light…
Animal experimentation is one of the greatest ethical dilemmas facing modern science. While animal research leads to life-saving treatments, to anti-vivisectionists (people who oppose the use of animals in scientific research) the practice is cruel and barbaric, regardless of its potential benefit to human health. But what are the issues with animal research, and what…
Obesity is clinically defined when someone’s Body Mass Index (BMI) exceeds 30. It is a metabolic disorder where by energy intake from food and drinks exceeds energy consumption from metabolism and physical activities. There are many health-related risks associated with obesity, especially for children. This includes increased susceptibility for type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and…
The dark side of DNA testing One hundred and fifty years ago, in a laboratory in Germany, a young scientist named Friedrich Miescher identified an unusual new chemical while studying white blood cells. At first scientists assumed it was unimportant, but then they began to uncover its remarkable structure: a double helix held together like…
Over the last few decades, our treatment of cancer has been revolutionised. The field has been transformed by a focus on ‘personalised medicine’ which involves treating patients’ individual cases rather than grouping them together. It is universally recognised that there is no single cure for cancer, and increasing evidence suggests that there is not a…
It was 1st week, Michaelmas Term, 2019. Laid out before me was a collection of art from Balliol JCR’s picture fund, I was about to pick one to hang in my room for the following year. I pondered over them briefly before selecting an abstract piece with swirls of red, purple and pink representing nothing…
How accelerators sweeten up the Standard Model of Particle Physics “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more precise measurement”. This famous quote by Lord Kelvin in 1900 spoke of a perspective shattered almost immediately by a stream of significant discoveries, such as the discovery of the electron…
